An American quarry company has firmly rejected the criticisms and closures launched by the Mexican president, along with his proposal to purchase its property on the beautiful Caribbean coast.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador made an offer in July to purchase the American company’s property on the Caribbean coast for approximately $385 million. This offer came after a prolonged and contentious dispute between the two parties.
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Vulcan Materials, a company headquartered in Alabama, expressed its dissatisfaction with the offer in a statement on Monday, stating that it believes the offer greatly underestimates the value of its assets.
According to documents submitted to an international arbitration panel, Vulcan Materials has appraised the expansive 6,000-acre property near Playa del Carmen, valuing it at a staggering $1.9 billion.
The Mexican president previously made threats to seize the vast property, asserting that the excavation of crushed limestone by the company has caused harm to the delicate underground rivers and caves in the region.
The construction of the Mayan Train, a tourist train encircling the Yucatan peninsula, is a personal venture of López Obrador. However, critics, including activists, cave divers, and archaeologists, argue that the project has caused harm to the caves. These caves are home to some of the oldest human remains in North America.
The president’s office did not respond immediately to Vulcan’s allegations.
López Obrador has previously mentioned that the company’s freight shipping dock, which is the sole deep port on the coast’s mainland, is the most appealing aspect of the property. His objective is to transform it into a cruise ship dock. Additionally, he intends to convert the remaining area of the property into a natural reserve.
“The company expressed its concern over the Mexican government’s utilization of political threats and false accusations as a means to rationalize the conversion of our property into a “naturally protected area.” Ironically, this designation could potentially be exploited for commercial tourism purposes and naval operations, including cruise ship activity,” stated the company.
Mexican President López Obrador expressed his intention to repurpose the flooded pits created by the company as recreational spaces. He proposed turning these areas into “swimming pools” or an “ecotourism” zone, which would be managed by a private operator.
Crocodiles, a protected species in Mexico, inhabit the vast pits.
The Punta Venado dock is the exclusive facility in the region capable of accommodating shipments of cement, crushed stone, and other materials for the Maya Train project. Spanning 950 miles (1,500 kilometers), the Maya Train line is designed to encircle the Yucatan Peninsula, linking popular beach resorts and historical archaeological sites.
López Obrador promotes the train as a means to distribute some of Cancun’s tourism revenue to the inland communities that have been left out. However, there is a lack of reliable feasibility studies indicating whether tourists would actually be interested in utilizing the train.
